25 Cents for Love
by windycloudcakes
Summary: Haley James sees all the people around her falling in love and moving forward with their relationships, but she fears that she will never be able to feel what they do. Will the new boy in town help her find her wish? naley with some brucas and jeyton
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own any characters from the show. Other than the characters and relationships, the story is completely made up. Anyway I hope you enjoy my first fanfiction.**

Do you ever feel all alone? That is exactly how I, Haley James, feel right now. As I sit on my front porch this fine Saturday morning while everyone I know is still asleep, I can't help but think about my life and I've realized that I am alone.

Last night, my sister Quinn got engaged. That makes four out of my five siblings in either marriages, or committed relationships, leaving me and Taylor out of the loop. Sadly, that really just leaves me out because, well, no one expects Taylor to be in a committed relationship. So, here I am. 16 years old, and I've never been in any sort of relationship that wasn't strictly platonic. While everyone else in my life is the half of someone else's whole.

To make matters even worse, not only am I left out in my family, but my four best friends are in relationships as well, with each other. It has always been just the five of us. I met Lucas Scott the first day of pre-school and we have been best friends ever since. Soon, we were joined by Brooke Davis and Peyton Sawyer who had also met the first day and had seen me and Lucas playing a game of tag and asked to join us. We bonded quickly. It was like that for most of our childhood, until fourth grade. That's when Jake Jagielski transferred to our school after moving here from Georgia and being the friendly people that we were, we welcomed him with open arms.

Our freshman year, Brooke and Lucas finally admitted their feelings for each other and have been together for the last few years. It took Jake and Peyton a little longer to tell each other how they feel, but they couldn't take not being together anymore because, as of this summer, they are officially a couple. We are now starting our junior year and I can't help but to feel like I will never feel what they have.

So, instead of continuing to sit here and wallow in self-pity, I am going to take matters into my own hands. I am going to make a wish. In the middle of my small Southern hometown of Tree Hill, North Carolina, there is a fountain. That is where I will throw my quarter and wish for one thing, love.

Now that I have thrown my quarter into the fountain I am on my way over to Brooke's. After the announcement of Quinn's engagement, my parents decided to throw a little celebratory dinner party with all of our closest friends and neighbors. Which made Brooke decide that she, Peyton, and I need to go shopping for something to wear early as the party is tonight. Her house really isn't that far from where I am, but I decided to take the scenic route to avoid getting there too early. Plus, I have to pick up some donuts.

As I was about to cross the street, without even looking up, I crashed right into something that felt like a wall, falling straight onto my back. Realizing that it couldn't have actually been a wall because there wasn't a building where I had been walking, I looked up to find what, or rather who, I had crashed in to.

"I'm sorry. Are you okay?" asked the most amazingly gorgeous male I had ever seen in my life.

"Uh…..Um. Yeah, I think." That was all I could manage to respond with after staring at him for just a little too long. I had to look away in order to hide the blush that was creeping up my face.

"Are you sure? You didn't hit your head, right because you seem a little out of it."

"Oh. Um, well, yeah I'm fine. I tend to fall a lot. This wasn't that bad actually. And I'm sorry, it was totally my fault, I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going. I was too busy thinking about my destination." I said while pointing to the donut shop. Hopefully he hadn't noticed my nervous rambling.

He just chuckled, looking toward the donut shop as well. "It seems that we both had one track minds that lead to this collision. You were thinking about donuts and I was too focused on my running. Sorry about that. But, either way I'm kind of happy that we crashed. You are the first person that I've met in this town, except my family that is. I'm Nathan Scott."

"Well Nathan Scott, it's nice to meet you. You know my best friend's last name is Scott, too."

"Huh, really? What a coincidence. Maybe we are related. I do have a…" He started to say but was cut off by her phone ringing.

"Sorry."Feeling bad for interrupting, I reached for my phone and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey tutor girl, where are you? Peyton and I are waiting and you are supposed to bring breakfast."

"Sorry Brooke. I'm on my way. I'll see you soon."

Throughout the conversation, Nathan stood there waiting patiently and I couldn't help but to further admire his features. He must have been about 6'2" with raven hair that was short and spiked, but looked natural. He had the most amazing blue eyes, and it was easy to tell that he worked out. Not just because he had been running, but because it was easy to see his muscular physique through his t-shirt.

"Sorry about that Nathan. It was really nice to meet you, but I really have to go. I hope I didn't give you too bad of a first impression of Tree Hill, being the first person you've met here."

"No, just the opposite actually." He said smirking.

Wow. That was all that went through my head as I started to walk away, thinking of Nathan Scott. Before I got too far though, I felt someone run to catch up to me. I turned to my side and saw him walking along side me.

"I realized that I wanted a donut." He explained as I gave him a questioning look.

"Oh really, and here I was thinking that I made a really good impression on you and you just couldn't stay away.'' Wow. Am I actually flirting? I've never flirted before. This is just too weird, but a good weird.

"Well, yeah, that too. Plus you never told me your name, and I couldn't just leave knowing that I didn't at least try to get the name of the prettiest girl I met today."

"I'm the only girl you've met today." I couldn't help but laugh as I said that.

"Ok, that's true. I guess I should have said ever."

My only response was to smile and blush, which grew darker as he responded with that smirk of his that just made me melt inside. As we waited for our donuts, I completely zoned out on him.

"So, what is it?" Nathan's voice broke me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Your name, what is it?"

"Oh, Haley James." I smiled, as I grabbed my box of donuts and stared to leave. "It was nice to meet you Nathan Scott, but I really do have to leave now before my friends come hunt me down."

As I walked away, I'm not positive but I'm pretty sure I heard him say "Nice to meet you too, Haley James."


	2. Chapter 2

"Haley James! Where have you been? I asked you to get here at 8:00 this morning and it is now 8:45. Normally, you would be here 30 minutes early and waking me up. Now we don't have as much time to get ready to go shopping." Brooke was clearly upset; luckily I knew that if I told her all about meeting Nathan, she would forgive me. Well, that and giving her the donuts I bought.

"Sorry Brooke, I was on my way to get the donuts and I got a little distracted."

"That's okay Hales. I see you got me some cake donuts with sprinkles, so you are officially forgiven. Wait a second, did you say 'distracted'? As in I met someone 'distracted' or I picked up the newspaper and saw an interesting article 'distracted'?"

"Well, actually, I met this new guy named Nathan. I may have only met him due to my clumsiness, seeing as I walked right into him, but that is beside the point. He seemed around our age, I really hope that I'll get to see him again." As I talked about this, I couldn't help but worry that I'd never get to see that face again.

"Who is this guy that has you so worried Hales?" Peyton asked as she walked into the room.

"Oh, P. Sawyer, Tutor girl here has a crush on this new guy, and apparently he was 'distracting' her this morning. That is why she is late. Now that you are here she can tell us the whole story as we get ready and eat donuts!" Brooke quickly explained before I got the chance to get any words out.

So, for the next hour or so, we went over every detail of my morning until Brooke was convinced that I didn't leave anything out. Then, we went on to spend about four hours at the mall until we all found the perfect outfits for tonight's dinner party. Finally, we were headed back to Brooke's to get ready.

It was almost 5:00 and that was when we were expected, so we just had to put the finishing touches on our outfits, then we would head over.

"Ok girls, we look perfect, time to party!" Brooke yelled as she led the way to her car.

Ten minutes later we were there and while I was happy for Quinn, I couldn't help the sadness that came over me as I thought about the fact that I would probably be the only one there without a date.

"Haley-Bub, you look amazing, aren't you going to come over here and see your big sister. Oh and bring those awesome friends of yours with you!" I heard Quinn yell from across the room. With that Brooke, Peyton, and I rushed over to her, the whole time telling her how happy we were for her and talking about her wedding plans.

"Seriously, Quinn, I am so happy for you. Clay is an amazing guy and you two deserve to be happy together. I know that you have an amazing life ahead of you, and I can't wait to witness it." I said, after a ten minute conversation about cake and frosting.

"Thanks Hales, and he is pretty amazing isn't he? In fact, I think I'm going to go find my amazing fiancée right now. See you later."

Lucas and Jake hadn't arrived yet, so Brooke, Peyton, and I decided to go hang out in the tree house in my back yard that we used to basically live in. Sitting up above the party, we watched our parents discussing things that probably had to do with the engagement and the wedding, but we seemed so far away that all we could do was remember being little girls, playing in the tree house.

"Hales, remember the time you and Lucas had that water balloon fight and you almost fell out of the tree. We were all so scared and you just couldn't stop laughing. Even in some of the worst moments, you found something that was funny and showed it to the rest of us." Peyton said while pretty much acting out the memory without the actual falling, causing me and Brooke to laugh.

"Haha, yeah. That was a good day. We were such losers weren't we?"

"Speaking of losers," Brooke started as we all headed out of the tree to greet the two approaching figures. Immediately Brooke and Peyton greeted their boyfriends, leaving me the fifth wheel in the group.

"Hey boyfriend, how was your day?" Brooke asked Lucas. It wasn't common that they went a majority of the day without seeing each other, because we all have the same friends.

"Oh, it was interesting. Last night, something surprising happened, turning my family upside down. I guess I have a brother."Lucas explained.

Jake was the first of us to break out of his shocked mode. "What? Man, when did that happen, how did that happen?"

"Well you guys know the whole story about my dad and how he left my mom when he found out she was pregnant. I guess a few months later in college, he got this other girl pregnant too. I know, crazy huh? Well, that's not all. Dan's dying so he wanted to come meet the son that he abandoned and apologize to my mom. So I've been hanging out with my brother all day, he's actually pretty cool and they moved here so you'll probably be seeing a lot of him." Lucas explained.

All of us were pretty shocked, but before we could say anything we heard someone calling from across the yard.

"Hey Luke, your mom and Keith told me that I could find you out here. Is it cool if I hang out with you guys?" Nathan asked as he approached.

"Sure man. Everybody, this is Nathan, my brother. Nate, this is my girlfriend Brooke, Jake, Peyton, and"

"Haley James." Nathan finished for him while waving, then shaking everyone's hands.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Lucas asked.

"We met this morning while I was running." Nathan answered barely taking his eyes off of Haley.

"Wait, tutor girl, this is the guy you met this morning?" Brooke asked, while I nodded in response. "Oh, I definitely approve." Brooke smiled as I tried to hide my blushing. It was then that I noticed Nathan in his button up shirt and nice black pants that made him look even more gorgeous than when I first saw him. I finally looked up to his face and found him staring at me too. It seemed like forever that our eyes were locked until Peyton cleared her throat, pulling us out of our little world only to notice everyone else staring at us too.

"Well, I guess we should go inside and get ready to eat. It's probably about that time anyway." I said, trying to clear my head and take the attention off of us for a little bit at least.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for all the reviews. **

There were three different tables to sit at, one for Quinn, Clay and their friends, one for my parents and their friends, and one for my friends and me. We quickly made our way over to our table and, for once we were able to fill the table with an even number.

Luckily, I got to sit next to Nathan. That way when Brooke, Lucas, Jake, and Peyton started to act like the couples that they are, I have someone to talk to. That actually happened really fast. Right away, my mom made a toast about young love and from there both couples were off in their own dream worlds.

"So, Nathan, how do you like Tree Hill so far?"

"I haven't had the chance to see much of it yet, but it seems like it could be a nice place to live. I mean the first person I met was pretty awesome. Hopefully I'll get to spend more time with them."

"Yeah, Lucas is really great huh?"

"Yeah he is, but I was actually talking about you Haley."

"Oh. Sorry, I just assumed that since you did meet him yesterday that he was who you were talking about. Well now I guess that makes sense, and yes I definitely think that we will get to spend some more time together." I couldn't help but smile as I thought about that and my smile only grew as I noticed that he was smiling back.

After about 20 seconds of staring into his blue eyes, I decided to start the conversation back up.

"So, um, you said that you haven't really seen much of Tree Hill yet. Do you maybe want a tour tomorrow?" I asked hopefully. I really wanted to spend time with him and took the opportunity to ask.

"I'd like that. Of course, we'd probably need to pay a little more attention to where we are going, otherwise we might crash into some random people in the streets."

"Well then maybe we should just start early when there are only a few people out and just go from there."

"If you insist, but I like breakfast, so how about before we go tour the town we get a little something to eat."

"That sounds perfect." I smiled. At this time, we had already started eating and were making small talk, but I wanted to have a conversation about more than just the weather or the food.

"Ooh, how about to get to know each other, we each ask 5 questions?"

"Ok. Is it cool if I start?" I nodded, urging him to continue. "How long have you known Lucas?"

"We met on the first day of pre-school and have been best friends ever since."

"Wow. So if I look through his old things I could find pictures of little Haley James. That could be interesting."

"Yes, you could, but you are not allowed to make fun of me."

"I wouldn't do that. I'm sure you were very cute."

"Uh-huh. Okay, my turn. What is your favorite thing to do?"

"That's easy. My favorite thing to do is play basketball. I've played since I was able to walk and I don't know what I would be like if I didn't have that focus in my life." He looked at me with such honesty evident in his eyes that I just looked up and smiled at him in response.

"Ok, it is time for my second question. What scares you more than anything?"

"Clowns." I said with a serious expression as he took a drink from his water and coughed as he tried to stop laughing.

"Hey, do not laugh at me. Clowns are creepy."

"Alright, I guess they are kind of creepy. What is your next question?"

"Um. Are you sad that you had to leave your old life to come live here?"

"Not really. It has given me the opportunity to meet Lucas. I never knew that I had a brother, until my dad got sick. Then he told my mom and me his whole story. So I'm really excited to get to know him and maybe have an actual friendship. In my old town I talked to people and hung out with them, but I knew that they weren't actual friends, plus I was too focused on basketball to care about having a social life. Also, if I didn't move here, I wouldn't have met you and I never would have known what I was missing out on." He smirked at the end of his answer causing the butterflies in my stomach to do a little happy dance.

"Well, I'm happy you're here too."

"Alright, question number three. What is your favorite food?"

"Macaroni and cheese, it's delicious."

He started to chuckle a little bit.

"No, you already laughed at me for the clown thing tonight. Make fun of me for this some other time."

"Ok. That's fine. It just means that I'll have to keep hanging out with you until I find that perfect time to make fun of you for it."

"Well I guess that's just something that I'll have to deal with."

We smiled at each other and shared a nice moment, full of comfortable silence.

"It's time for my third question. What was your first thought when you met me?"

"I thought ouch, someone just crashed into me." He smiled.

"No come on, seriously."

"Alright. My first thought was 'That girl is beautiful.' And later, I kept thinking about how much I wanted to see you again."

With that I couldn't stop blushing and it was easy to tell that he noticed because he just kept smiling at me.

"I believe it is time for your fourth question."

"This is true. So what do you do in your free time?"

"Are you repeating my earlier question? Well fine. I like to tutor other students. Brooke actually calls me tutor girl. It's kind of funny but I just really enjoy knowing that I could help someone else understand something. It makes me feel like what I do means something to someone."

"That is really cool. All I do is shoot a ball through a hoop."

"Yeah, well I'm sure that you look good doing it, and that might mean something to someone."

"Oh really, someone like you?"

"Maybe. Ok, next question. What is your favorite kind of weather?"

"I really like the rain. Something about it just calms me down and if I could, I would just stand in the rain until it stops."

"Really, me too. I've always felt like something really special and wonderful would happen in the rain. And lucky for you, it rains a lot here."

"My here goes my last question. Haley James, do you have a boyfriend?"

"No, I don't. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you know one day, that could be a useful piece of information."

"Ok. And my last question for you, Nathan Scott, is: Do you have a girlfriend? You know it could be a useful piece of information one day."

He laughed at my use of his words. "No. I don't have a girlfriend."

"Good to know." I smiled.

At this point we noticed several people had left already and several more were leaving.

"I guess I'd better go now. Luke is my ride and he and Brooke just stopped making out by the door so that must be my sign to leave. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yep, you want to meet here at around 7:00?"

"Sounds good."

I walked him to the door and as I turned towards him to say I goodbye, we both leaned in to a hug. I've hugged many people before, but it had never once felt like this. It was almost as if an electric current shot through me, but all too soon we pulled apart.

"See you tomorrow, Hales."

"Bye Nathan."

As soon as he and Lucas drove off, I came inside and shut the door. I soon found myself jumping around and dancing a little to express how happy I truly was.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you again for all the reviews, they really help keep me motivated. **

"Ok tutor girl, stop dancing and spill." Brooke said after walking in on me while I was dancing around.

"Yeah, Haley, you look like someone just fed you a whole candy store and told you that all your dreams really can come true. What's with the happy optimism?" Peyton asked.

"I don't know you guys. I'm just really happy right now."

"Would that have anything to do with a certain Scott brother that you were talking to all night?"

"Yes, Peyton, I think it had everything to do with him."

"Oh. That is so exciting! Haley we are dating brothers."

"No Brooke. You are dating Lucas and I am friends with Nathan. Although I wouldn't mind dating him, but right now we are just friends."

"Fine, but Naley will happen eventually, and they will be just as hot as Brucas and Jeyton."

"Naley, Brucas, and Jeyton. Really Brooke?" Peyton asked.

"Come on, P. Sawyer, you know how I like nicknames. And you have to admit, those couple names are really cute."

"Ok fine. But right now I want to hear more about Haley's night."

So Peyton and Brooke spent the night at my house and we went over every detail of all of our nights. They had a lot of fun at the dinner party and were looking forward to spending more time with Nathan as well. If he wanted, he would definitely be a welcome addition to our little group.

I woke up at 6:00 the next morning and decided to start getting ready, leaving Brooke and Peyton asleep. After searching through my closet twice, I decided to just wear jeans and a tank top with a light jacket and some sandals. I looked casual but still cute. At 6:45, I was starting to get a little nervous, so I went to watch some tv. Hopefully it would distract me from thinking about what was coming.

Before I knew it, it was 7:00, and Nathan was knocking on the door. I got up to answer it, but before I knew what was happening Brooke was already there pulling the door open.

"Hey Scott number two. How are you this morning?"

"Hi Brooke. I'm great this morning. How are you?"

"Oh, I'm fine. So are you excited for your Naley outing?"

"My what?"

I tried to cover Brooke's mouth before she could explain, but she just pulled away.

"Your Naley outing. Naley is short for Nathan and Haley."

Nathan laughed and smiled. Wow his smile was beautiful. "Oh, ok. Yes I am very excited for my 'Naley' outing. It means I get to spend time with Haley, so of course I'm excited."

I took that as my chance to get us out of here. "Ok, well, we should go. Bye Brooke. I'll see you later." I said while pulling Nathan out the door by his hand.

"Sorry about Brooke, she tends to be a little forward, but it is one of the many reasons we love her."

"Haley, it's fine. I actually thought it was a little funny."

We both looked down now and I realized that I was still holding onto his hand. I slowly let go, and couldn't help but to feel as if something were missing.

"Should we get started?" I took his nod as a yes and started walking with him right next to me.

"So what do you want to do for breakfast?" He asked.

"Well I always just go to Karen's Café. Is that alright with you?"

"Yeah, I've only had like one or two meals with them so far, but Karen is an amazing cook."

"Ok well it isn't too far, probably about a fifteen minute walk. By the way, we are walking for the whole tour so you can get the full Haley James experience."

"That's fine with me. It sounds like a great experience so far. Plus I mean how many people can say that they have experienced the full Haley James experience?" He smirked.

"Well, normally I have them sign in, so there is a whole list if you would like to see it." I joked along.

As soon as I said that, his face fell and he looked slightly upset and disappointed.

"Or, maybe, you're the first to get the full Haley James experience. You choose whichever answer you prefer." I smiled, trying to keep a happier mood around us.

"Well in that case, I'm the first."

"You picked the right answer, good job. And not many people get this special treatment, so enjoy it."

"Oh, I will."

"That's good. You know, I'm enjoying hanging out with this Nathan Scott guy. He is so cool that he gets his own special, private tour around town."

"Yeah he is pretty lucky, and what makes him even luckier is the fact that his tour guide is beautiful."

I obviously blushed at his comment. "Ok, here we are, Tree Hill's best restaurant in town, Karen's Cafe, and I'll have you know that I'm pretty tight with the owner, so we can get a discount."

"Hey Hales, Nate. What are you guys doing here?"

"Hey Luke. Haley is giving me a tour of Tree Hill, but we decided to start out with breakfast first. You can join us while we eat if you want." He looked over to me, silently asking if it was ok. I nodded.

"Yeah Luke, that would be great. I feel like I haven't really had the chance to talk to you in a while."

"Ok. If you guys insist, I'll just go let my mom know that we are here and just have her make a giant breakfast that we can share."

Breakfast went really well. I had a lot of fun talking and hanging out with my favorite group of brothers. Now Nathan and I get to head out on our tour.

"Ok, so the first part of this tour begins here. If you will follow me, we will make our way to the roof."

"Are you going to push me over the side, because if you are maybe we could skip that part."

"Haha, no, I'm not going to push you. When Lucas and I were younger, we built a miniature golf course up there so we would all have somewhere fun to hang out. Here it is."

"Haley, this is awesome. I can't believe you guys did all of this. Wow."

While he was looking around, I took the opportunity to pick up one of the water balloons I had placed up here. When his guard was down and his back was turned, I threw it hitting him in the back of his head. He jumped about 3 feet in the air and screamed. I was bent over laughing and trying to catch my breath.

"Oh, it is so on now." He declared, grabbing a balloon and preparing to retaliate.

Before I had a chance to react and run away, he had thrown his balloon and gotten me right in the center of my stomach. We continued like this until we were both out of balloons. So I walked over to him and offered a truce which he immediately accepted, wrapping his arm around my shoulders as we started to walk away. Just before we got to the door though, he pulled a balloon out from behind his back and popped it over my head.

"Sorry about that, you had a bug in your hair, and I wanted to make sure it left."

"Wow. That was the worst excuse I've ever heard. And it's fine, you want to play like that, let's see how your tour goes when your tour guide is so far ahead of you that you can't even see her." With that, I pushed him back and ran out the door and through the café until I was hiding in the alley right next to it.

Soon, he came running out, looking around for me. As soon as he started to pass the alley, I ran up and jumped on his back.

"Hey. So how is your tour so far, Nate? Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Oh it's going pretty great. The tour guide is a lot of fun, now if only I could find her."

"I'm sure she'll show up eventually, but hey, you might as well continue walking that way, maybe you'll hear her voice telling you were to go and some fun facts about different places in town." I said, urging him to continue walking, in the process giving me a piggyback ride.

"If you say so."

We continued walking around town for a few hours and I showed him all of my favorite places and we went to the school that we would both be attending next week when school starts again, Tree Hill High. I showed him where his classes would be, where we hang out, and my favorite place, the tutor center. I also showed him the gym, which he was especially excited about. We finally ended up at the river court, the last stop on our tour.

"So, this is where we usually hang out. Brooke, Peyton, and I just kind of hang out while Jake and Lucas play basketball with some of our other friends that you will eventually meet."

"It's really nice here. I like it, and the view isn't too bad either." He said, looking straight at me.

"Yeah, it's really beautiful here."

"That isn't what I was talking about, but yeah it is."

"Oh really, and what were you talking about mister?" I asked, moving towards him as we stood on the court.

"Well, there is this gorgeous girl standing in front of me and I can't help but stare at her. I mean she is hot, any guy would be lucky to be next to her, and right now that guy is me. So I'm just appreciating the view."

"Really?"

"Yep, and there is so much more than just a great view with her. She is so much fun, she is always happy, her smile is infectious and she is flirting back with me, so I'd say she is great all around."

"Well you're not so bad yourself."

At this point we were very close. I could practically feel his heartbeat. After looking into my eyes for a few seconds, he started to lean in, and I found myself leaning as well. I'd never been kissed before so this was all new to me, but I found that I didn't care. Then his lips were on mine and it was so perfect that words couldn't describe it. He pulled back and looked into my eyes again kind of asking if it was okay. So to respond, I leaned back into him and pulled his face to mine once again connecting our lips. This kiss was more intense and lasted longer. Everything around me disappeared, and it was just the two of us in our moment. That was until I ran out of breath. I pulled back and smiled at him.

"Wow. That was…..wow." He said smiling back at me as I started to blush.

"Yeah. So ok here is the thing, I really like you and I want us to be a couple, if it's ok with you of course, but my sister just got engaged and I don't want to take any of the attention away from her right now."

"Oh. Ok, well does that mean that we can't be a couple until then, or can we just sneak around for a little while until you're ready to tell everyone?"

"Well considering I don't want to pretend that we didn't kiss I guess we can sneak around, but only for like a week or two."

"Good, because there is no way that I'd be able to go two weeks without kissing you." He smirked.

I leaned in and gave him a quick yet sweet kiss and pulled back to look in his eyes.

I heard a car approaching and noticed all my friends getting out and walking towards us. So Nathan and I took a few steps back and tidied ourselves up a little.

"Hey tutor girl, what are you doing here?"

"Hey Brooke, this was the last stop on our tour."

The boys began to play some basketball while we watched from the picnic table. Soon, we were joined by Mouth, Skills, Junk, and Fergie and all introductions were made. They joined the game while Mouth came to sit with us and commentate.

I watched Nathan as he played, and he was the best one out there. I could tell that he was happy playing the game that he loved and I couldn't help but to smile at that.

"I think Nathan just earned himself a nickname." Brooke said. "Girls, and Mouth, met HotShot."

"Well, it definitely suits him." I said watching as Nathan dunked the ball, looking very hot indeed.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day, we were all having lunch at Karen's Café, and it was getting increasingly difficult to hide my relationship with Nathan. He looked so great today and I did my best not to stare too much. But it seemed he was having a hard time too because every time I snuck a glance at him, he was already looking at me. Luckily, Luke, Brooke, Peyton, and Jake we off in their own worlds for a little while so we didn't have to worry as much.

"Hey Brooke, Peyton do you think you guys can help me with something tonight?" I asked, hoping they would say yes.

"That depends, what do you need help with?" Peyton asked cautiously.

"I decided to redo my room. It looks so plain and boring and I wanted to put a little of my personality into it. I figured that we could go shopping before we go back to my house to get whatever we need. Brooke, you have great interior design skills, and Peyton you are an amazing artist. So I was really hoping you could help." I tried my best to give my biggest smile to attempt to convince them even more.

"Sure thing foxy, we can help. I would love to make a mural on your wall. It sounds like a lot of fun." Peyton answered for both of them.

"Yeah, it sounds like fun, but I'm sure it involves some heavy lifting, and these big, strong boys would love nothing more to come help us out tonight. Right?" Brooke looked around at all three of them.

"Right."

"Yeah."

"Absolutely."

All three boys answered at once.

"Great, you guys are such troopers, giving up your very packed schedule to come help us out." I said.

"Hales, really, it's no problem. Plus now we get to hang out with our girlfriends in an empty house since your parents are traveling in their RV this week." Lucas said.

"Oh, that's the reason you decided to come help me?" He and Jake nodded. "I understand. I mean who would actually help someone once they've said that they would?"

"Don't worry Hales, I'll help you." Nathan said while tracing circles on my knee under the table. I just smiled over at him.

"Yeah, Haley, Brooke and I actually want to help. So if Jake and Luke still want to make out, they have each other." Peyton grinned evilly over at them while the rest of us burst out laughing at their shocked and angry faces.

"Fine I guess we're all for heavy lifting and helping out tonight." Jake pouted.

"Oh, so you and Luke are a 'we' now?" I joked along causing them to get ever more upset.

"You guys we really should stop making fun of them now. I mean if we keep judging what they have, Jake might have to step up and punch out whoever upsets Lucas." Brooke added.

"Wait, why does he have to protect me? I am perfectly capable of protecting him." Lucas complained.

"Alright, this is getting a little too weird for me now. Haley, what do you want done to your room?" Nathan asked, trying to change the subject.

"Well, I don't really know. I want all new furniture, I want to paint, and I want some fun decorations. But I'll just have to see what I find while we are shopping."

After we finished our lunch, we headed over to some home improvement stores and furniture stores. We found a lot of great stuff, and Peyton found some inspiration for her mural. Now we were back at my house, cleaning out my room.

A few minutes later, it was all clear. Peyton claimed her wall and went to work while we started to paint the other three walls the light purple color I picked out. We finished long before Peyton and decided to take a break while letting the paint dry. So I was making dinner while Brooke, Lucas, Jake, and Nathan sat around the kitchen talking about random things and Peyton continued her work on the mural.

I was so focused on making the food that I didn't notice when Jake went to check on Peyton and Brooke and Lucas went off somewhere else doing something that I'm sure I didn't want to know about. I was pulled back to reality when I felt two strong arms wind around my waist. At first I was shocked but then realized that I didn't hear anyone else talking and we were all alone so I relaxed into him.

"Hey." I said, tilting my head up to look at him.

"Hi. So what are you making, do you need any help?"

"I am making mac and cheese, and no I don't need help. I really don't have to do anything with it for about ten minutes."

"Ok, and I am taking the opportunity to now make fun of you for the mac and cheese if you don't mind."

"What? It's food of the gods."

"Well then I guess I'll like it."

"Nate, are you in some way implying that you are a god?"

"No. I just look like one." He smirked.

"Well, I can't really argue with that."

"Good, because I was hoping you wouldn't."

"And why is that?"

"If you argued, then you would be talking, and I know of something much better that we could be doing with our mouths at the moment."

"Oh really, something like this?" I asked, grabbing a few M&M's off the island next to me and sticking them in my mouth.

"Haha. No, see I was thinking something more like this." He stated, taking one step closer to me so that our bodies were touching and closing the distance between our lips. The kiss quickly escalated and before I knew it my hands were in his hair, his were on my hips, and I was pushed up against the island with our tongues battling for dominance. I was so lost in the kiss, that I barely heard the timer go off signaling that I needed to get back to cooking. I pulled away, but gave him one quick peck before turning to the stove and resuming my cooking. Within seconds, he was behind me with his hands once again around my waist, only this time, he was kissing his way up and down my neck. When he started toward my chin, I dropped the spoon that I was using to stir and pulled his face back to mine.

A few minutes later we started to hear voices coming down the stairs. Nathan pulled away first and whispered in my ear. "I'll kiss you later." Then he walked back over to where he was sitting before. I quickly got all the food ready and was in the process of bringing it to the table when everyone walked into the kitchen, ready to eat. Our dinner was nice, the conversation was light and fun and it was really great spending time with everyone at once. At one point, Nathan grabbed my hand underneath the table, intertwined our fingers, and brought our hands back to rest on his leg, and they stayed there for the rest of the meal.

Peyton had finished the mural while I was making dinner, so we all went back up and started putting everything together. When we finally finished, it was midnight, so we all decided that they would spend the night. Everyone called their parents and I looked around my room loving what I was seeing.

"Thank you guys so much for helping me. My room looks great and I have all of you to thank for that. Plus, now when I look at my room, I get to see not only myself, but I see all of you as well. And that is ten times more special."

With that we all stayed up a little longer and went to watch a movie together, just enjoying spending time together as a group.


	6. Chapter 6

After we watched our movie, everyone went to sleep. Brooke and Lucas took Quinn's old room and Peyton and Jake took Taylor's while I went to my room and Nathan took the couch, at least for a while.

_Flashback_

_After an hour of lying in bed unable to sleep I walked downstairs to get something to drink. When I was in the kitchen I heard something around me and turned around to see Nathan standing there._

"_Hey." I said shyly trying to stop staring at his bare chest. Apparently he likes to sleep without his shirt. "Sorry, did I wake you?"_

"_No. I couldn't sleep. Then you came down so I thought I'd see what was up with you."_

"_I couldn't sleep either."_

_I looked at the clock, it was 3:30. Ugh! I should be sleeping right now._

"_Do you want to hang out with me? Everyone else is asleep and it gets kind of creepy in this house when it's quiet." I told him._

"_I would love to hang out with you, and protect you from the creepiness."_

_So we went up to my room and I turned the tv on. Soon we were lying in my bed and I had my head rested on his chest as we channel surfed for something good. Sadly, we couldn't find anything so we just turned it off. That was okay though because I felt myself drifting off to sleep._

"_I'm about to fall asleep so I am just going to warn you now, I will be getting up at 7:00 to cook everyone breakfast. So you are going to have to wake up then too. We don't want anyone finding you in here." _

"_That's fine, it gives us some more alone time anyway. Plus you can teach me to make breakfast."_

It took us a little longer to make breakfast than it should have, but we had fun while making it. When making the pancakes, we had a flour fight. When making the bacon, I slipped on the floor that was covered in flour, falling into Nathan and we both ended up on the floor. That led to a small make-out session that was stopped to continue with breakfast. Finally, when we were making the eggs, I had to teach him how to crack the eggs and he didn't quite master it, so there are a few shells loose in the eggs. We decided not to tell anyone unless they found some.

When I finished putting everything on the table, Nathan went to wake everyone up. They came downstairs looking less than thrilled, but perked up when they saw all the food on the table.

"Wow, Hales did you make all of this by yourself, it looks great." Luke commented.

"Actually, Nathan helped. I kind of woke him up when I came downstairs and figured I would put him to work since he was awake." So it wasn't a complete lie, I really did wake him up when I came down here, just not from the couch.

"Oh. Well maybe we should just go to my mom's then." Lucas joked.

"Haha, you are so funny Luke. I really didn't do that much. So you don't have to worry, I'm sure it's delicious." Nathan defended.

We all sat down then and started eating. It was a lot of fun hanging out all together. I actually couldn't wait until school started next week so that we could have more moments like this.

"Ow!" Lucas exclaimed. "What is wrong with the eggs, I bit down and there was something hard there. That's not natural."

Nathan and I just looked at each other and started laughing.

"Sorry Luke, egg cracking is a hard skill to master and some of us are more equipped to master skills like basketball." I said looking over at Nathan.

"I knew we should have gone to my mom's." Luke mumbled.

"Hey, just because I am amazing at one thing doesn't mean I suck at everything else." Nathan said, trying to defend himself. I just smiled at him while squeezing his hand under the table.

"That's right Hot Shot, stick up for yourself. We all have many talents at this table, and you are a welcome addition to it. We'll find out what your other talents are one day." Brooke said. I think she was trying to be encouraging, but I'm not sure, either way it was enthusiastic.

After breakfast, everyone went back to their own houses to get dressed. We are all meeting at the river court as soon as we're done.

I arrived shortly after Peyton, then all the boys showed up and finally, Brooke pulled up. While the boys played basketball, I got to hang out with Brooke and Peyton, which I was very excited about.

"So I just want to thank you guys once again for helping me with my room yesterday. It looks great and you played a huge role in that."

"Yeah, of course, it was no problem and I'd do it again any day." Peyton reassured me.

"Hey, so I just had a brilliant idea. School starts next week and we really only have like six days until we have to go back. How about the three of us go on a little girl's weekend trip? It would give us some time together before we all get too busy and it would be a great way to end our summer."

"Brooke that sounds great." I said.

"Yeah, when will we leave?" Peyton asked.

"How about we go to my parent's beach house they just bought. It is about two hours from here. We can leave early Friday morning and come home Sunday afternoon." Brooke suggested.

"Oh, I'm so excited."

"Easy there Hales, you don't want to get to excited, you might fall or something."

"Yes Peyton, I get it, I am clumsy. Thank you so much for pointing it out."

"And, the best part of this little trip is, despite the fact that I love our group of guys, they won't be there so we will be free to treat the whole thing like a giant sleepover. It's going to be amazing." Brooke said while laughing and waving at the boys who looked our direction.

"Oh yeah, this is going to be fun." Peyton agreed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for taking so long to update, I've been sick and it has been really difficult to focus on writing. Hopefully this chapter is okay.**

"Do we have junk food?" Brooke asked as we climbed into her car Friday morning to leave for our weekend.

"Check." Peyton and I replied.

"Magazines?"

"Check."

"Music?"

"Check." Peyton handed her the mix CD she had made for the trip.

"Alright, let's go."

We had been on the road for about 45 minutes, finished the CD, and taken every quiz from every magazine we brought.

"I'm bored. Let's play a game." Brooke said from the driver's seat.

"Ok, how about the radio game. It'll kill some time, and keep us entertained." I suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Peyton replied.

"Oh, I'll go first." Brooke called out. "What is going to happen on this wonderful trip?" She turned the dial and landed on "Cry" by Mandy Moore.

"Well, that sucks. Why would we be crying?"

"I don't know Brooke. Peyton, you go next."

"Ok, what are the guys doing right now?"

"Calling All Angels" by Train came on and Peyton started to laugh as her phone went off.

"Ha, Jake just texted me. He says 'Have fun this weekend. I miss you.' If this game is right about that, I wonder what we'll be crying about."

"Whatever it is, there better be ice cream waiting for us."Brooke said. "Your turn tutor girl."

"What is the school year going to bring me?"

"I Want to Know What Love is" by Foreigner came on.

"Oh, tutor girl, who is going 'to show' you, maybe Nate?"

"I don't know what you are talking about." I said, smiling to myself as I got a text from Nathan. We had been texting back and forth for the majority of this car ride and I was really enjoying it.

"Ok, fine. My next question is, who has Haley been texting this whole time?"

"If You Only Knew" by Shinedown came through the speakers.

"Ha. I'm not telling you and neither is the radio."

"Come on, Hales, why won't you just admit that it's Nathan? We already know you like him." Peyton tried to persuade me.

"I don't know that, that's a thing that you know."

"What?"

"Exactly. Peyton, just go to your next question." I said, trying to distract her.

"Fine, we have all weekend to bug you. My question is what is Jake thinking about right now?"

"What it Feels Like for a Girl" by Madonna was the song it landed on. We all just burst out laughing.

"I'm so sending him a text right now. I need to know if I need to find a new relationship."

"You do that. I want to ask when my wish is going to come true."

"One Day" by Jack Savoretti was my answer. I immediately smiled, hoping that it was at least partially true. I know that we have really only known each other for a little over a week, but I could see myself loving him one day, soon. I was falling fast and I just hoped he was too.

"Why, Miss Haley James, what was your wish that has you so smiley?" Brooke asked.

"I'm sure you'll find out soon enough." I replied shrugging my shoulders.

"Whatever, we are almost there, so everyone has time for one more question. Peyton got to use hers about Jake, so what is Luke thinking about right now?"

She was answered with "Running" by No Doubt.

"What time is it?" She looked at the clock. "Yep, he's out jogging right now. This thing is good." She said pointing to the radio.

"My turn, we asked about the other two, what is Nate thinking about?"

"She Will be Loved" by Maroon 5 came on and they both turned to look at me.

"What, it is a popular song, it comes on the radio a lot." I tried to act innocent, but couldn't fight the smile that was spreading over my face.

"If that's your story. Now ask your last question we have about three minutes." Brooke said.

"What will we _really_ be doing this weekend?" I asked, not sold on the fact that we would be crying.

"Don't Stop the Music" by Rihanna came on and we all started singing along and dancing.

"This is so much better than crying!" Brooke yelled.

"Totally." Peyton agreed.

When we got to the beach house, well more like mansion, it was amazing. There was a beautiful view from the driveway, so there was sure to be a better one from inside the house.

"Brooke, I can't believe your parents just bought this house randomly. It's so perfect here, why didn't they bring us up when they bought it?" I asked.

"I don't know why. It is pretty great though. This weekend is going to be so awesome."

She was telling the truth, the weekend was awesome. We hung out, talked about our lives, played games, tanned, watched movies, swam, and basically did all the things girls do at cliché sleepovers. It was our last weekend before our junior year, and we wanted to remember it. I am pretty sure that now we will.

Instead of driving home Sunday afternoon, we waited until Sunday night. It gave us more time together, just the three of us, and we didn't have to worry about boyfriends. We just got to spend an entire weekend alone and enjoy being away from everyone we know, except each other. I'm kind of sad to be back, but at the same time, I'm happy that tomorrow I get to see Nathan again.

It is now 9:00 on Sunday night and Brooke just dropped me off at home. Tomorrow is the first day of school and I am very excited. I have always loved school, and now I have even more of a reason to love it, Nathan. Even though nobody knows about us, I am really happy. We were texting throughout the weekend, and even when we are apart, I feel close to him. This is all so new to me, and I don't know how much longer I can go without telling anyone how much I like him. I just don't want to step on Quinn's celebration. I always put the happiness of others before my own. Maybe it's time to change that.


	8. Chapter 8

"Come on Hales, let's go. We're already running late and we have to go pick up Brooke." Peyton yelled walking in my front door. We decided that we would all go to school together today and Peyton would drive us. Brooke takes the most time to get ready, so she gets to be the last one to be picked up.

"Sorry, I'll be there in two seconds." I said, scooping one more spoonful of cereal into my mouth and putting the bowl into the sink before rushing to the door.

"Alright, one more stop and then on to the first day of school." Peyton said, leading the way out to her car.

"Brooke, you look great, let's go." I tried to reassure her as she stressed over her outfit.

"I guess it will have to do. We have to go to school, so this is the best it is going to get." She finally gave in.

"Thank you." Peyton exclaimed.

We finally arrived at school and the boys were already there. Someone else was there too, but I couldn't quite figure out who yet. As we got closer, I noticed that it was Rachel and got extremely nervous considering she was paying extra attention to Nathan.

"Hey boys, Rachel." We all just glared in her direction. None of us have ever been her biggest fan, and I was even madder at her based off of how she kept touching Nathan.

"Hello beautiful." Lucas said pulling Brooke into his arms.

"Hi boyfriend, how was your weekend without me?"

"Well, I missed you, but I had a lot of fun with these two losers here."

"Hey, who are you calling a loser?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, Luke, I'm the only one who gets to call him a loser. He's my loser." Peyton explained.

"Well, that I'm completely fine with. Want to walk with away your loser?" Jake asked.

"Of course, see you guys later." They walked away hand in hand toward the school.

"Alright, I too am going to see you guys later. I'm headed to the tutor center." I said, walking away, not wanting to see Rachel all over Nathan anymore.

The tutor center was empty which I really appreciated. It gave me time to think before school started and take advantage of the silence to relax. I was beginning to daydream when I heard the door open and saw Nathan walk in.

"Hey stranger." I said, as he walked over to me. "It's been what, three days since I've seen you?"

"Yep, and I wasn't going to waste anymore time away from you." He said as he pulled me over to a spot behind a fake tree and kissed me.

"I missed this, getting to see you. I had fun, but I still wanted to see you while I was away."

"I know what you mean. Luke and Jake are great and all, but they just aren't as fun to look at." He joked.

"Well, I could have told you that. I've been told by a trustworthy source that I am beautiful."

"Wow that person is brilliant, and they've got a good eye."

"Yep, and they aren't so bad to look at either." I said, just before the bell rang. "I guess we better go." I leaned up to give him one more kiss before turning around and leaving.

The rest of the day went pretty well. I had a few classes with each of my friends, so that was great, plus I got to sneak a few private moments in with Nathan without anyone noticing.

We are all in the gym now, waiting. Brooke, Peyton, and I are waiting for cheerleading tryouts to start, while Luke, Jake, and Nathan are waiting for basketball tryouts to start. Nathan is really the only one who has to tryout, but he will get on the team without any problems. The rest of us have been on these teams for two years. Brooke and Lucas are the captains of each team, so we all have guaranteed spots anyway.

I was standing with a few of the other cheerleaders, watching basketball tryouts while Brooke and Peyton held cheer tryouts. I was only half paying attention to the girls, I was too busy staring at Nathan. Apparently they were too, but they were also having a conversation about him.

"Who's the new guy?" Bevin asked looking around to see if anyone knew.

"I don't know, but he is hot." Theresa replied.

"Oh, he is so going to be mine, at least if I have anything to say about it." Rachel said, smirking.

"Haley, what do you think about him?" Bevin asked me. I was still replaying what Rachel said in my head.

"Excuse me." I said, walking away before they could respond, and heading right for Nathan. He saw me walking toward him, and just smiled. Once I reached him, I grabbed his face and pulled it down to mine, kissing him passionately, which he quickly responded to. I heard people whistling in the background and as we pulled away, I heard Brooke yell "Go tutor girl, it's about time!" I just laughed as I looked up into his eyes.

"Sorry, I just really wanted to do that."

"Hey, anytime you want to do that let me know. I'm here for you, babe."

"Oh, young love, well isn't that cute. It's your turn Scott, show us what you've got, and by that I mean basketball skills, not with your girlfriend." Whitey said.

Nathan just laughed as I turned bright red. "Sorry coach." He said, grabbing a basketball and giving his tryout all he had.

"Alright Scott, that was good. I guess we'll have another Scott on the team. Congratulations." Whitey told him.

Nathan walked over to me and hugged me. "I knew you could do it, that was amazing." I told him.

"Yeah, well I was inspired, and I had incentive."

"What's that?"

"Well, you see after that big declaration, I knew that if I made the team I could do this to celebrate." He said, leaning down to capture my lips in another kiss. I quickly forgot where we were and the kiss became more heated.

"I am so happy that we aren't sneaking around anymore. This is so much better." I said, leaning my forehead against his.

"I agree. I don't know how we went so long without telling anyone, but I'm kind of glad we did."

"Why is that?"

"Well if we had already been a public couple, you wouldn't have crossed the gym just to make-out with me to show that we are together."

"How did you know that was the reason? I could just have really bad self control and not be able to be around you without wanting to kiss you."

"Well, I know that is true, but you were also standing with Rachel and she has been after me since this morning."

"Ok, fine, you caught me. I didn't want anyone else going after you, but can you blame me?"

"No, I guess if other guys were acting like that toward you, I would have done something very similar. But, I'm not complaining, I like the way you handled things."

"I'm sure you did." I said, kissing him again.

"Haley James, stop kissing your boyfriend and get your cute little butt over here." Brooke yelled from across the gym.

"I guess I better go." I started to walk away, but he pulled me back.

"Nope, I'm not letting you." He said playfully.

"Nathan Scott, let her go. Do not make me come over there and fight you, because I will, and I will win." Brooke yelled again.

He sighed. "Fine, I'll see you later."

"Bye boyfriend." I said as I walked back over to where Brooke and Peyton were, unable to wipe the smile off my face.


	9. Chapter 9

**So as much as I love this story, it was never meant to be too long. I think I am going to end it next chapter.**

Things have been going really great for me lately. Now that Nathan and I are official and I told Brooke and Peyton everything, we are able to date, flirt, and act affectionate without having to care what others would say. When I told Quinn, she was really happy for me, and told me that I didn't have to sneak around in the first place. I thought about it though, and was happy that we snuck around for a little bit. It was a good way for us to get to know each other without everyone else getting in our way and making things awkward.

It has been about a month since that wonderful day in the gym, and everything is perfect. He drives me to and from school, we hang out with the best friends anyone could ask for, and I am happy. I'm actually waiting for him to pick me up now, the six of us are going to the beach, and we are all taking Nathan's SUV. I'm the first stop, then we go get everyone else. I'm really looking forward to today. It'll be fun.

"Hales, are you daydreaming about me again?" He asked as he walked toward me.

"No, just thinking about my other boyfriends, they say hi." I joked.

"Oh, you think you're funny don't you?"

"Yes, actually, I think I'm hilarious don't you agree?"

"If you say so."

"Whatever, let's just go get everyone else." I said, starting to walk to his car.

"Hold on one second." He said as he grabbed my hand.

"What?"

"Good Morning." He said, between kisses.

"Good Morning." I smiled back at him.

"Ok, now we can go." He smiled, interlacing our fingers, then opening my car door for me.

"Have I told you how great you are lately?" I asked once he was seated next to me.

"Yeah, but I don't mind hearing it again."

"Well, you are great, wonderful, amazing, sweet, and the best boyfriend ever."

"Thank you. You are pretty great too."

"Thanks, now let's go pick up those couples who aren't as great as us."

Luke brought a football, so while the boys were playing around, we were tanning and listening to music.

"So, Hales, how are you and Nate doing?" Peyton asked me.

"Great. I'm really happy, now I know how you guys feel with Jake and Luke."

"That's great Hales, I'm happy for you."

"Yeah, me too Haley. You deserve to be happy, and I'm just happy to be here witnessing the story of Naley. Maybe I'll get to use it one day." Brooke joined in.

Before we were able to continue, the boys ran over. Luke grabbed Brooke and ran away carrying her. Jake poured some of his water bottle on Peyton and she started to chase him. Nathan just collapsed next to me.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing, we just got bored of playing football and decided to come see you guys."

"Oh, well thank you. Except now we are all split up. I don't even know where they went."

"Well, then let's go find them." He said, standing up and reaching out his hand for me. I took it and we started walking down the beach, our fingers intertwined, searching for our friends.

We found them all together, walking toward us. I noticed the guys look at each other, then at the same time, they each grabbed one of us and started running to the water.

"Nathan put me down." I yelled.

"Sorry Hales, I can't do that yet." He said, reaching the edge of the water. Brooke and Peyton had already been pulled underwater and were trying to get revenge on their boyfriends.

"Please Nate?" I asked one more time.

"Ok, fine." He dropped me right at the edge of the water. "Happy?"

"Yes, very." Then I grabbed his hand and ran into to water, pulling him with me.

"You are a very confusing girl Haley James."

"Maybe so, but does that make me any less cute?"

"Never, you will always be cute." He said before swimming closer and leaning in to kiss me.

Just as the kiss started, we were interrupted by a splash of water hitting us.

"Cut it out you two, we are here to spend time together, not make out." Luke said. Nathan swam over to him and dunked him. They started messing around and soon, Jake joined in. Brooke, Peyton, and I just splashed them from a distance. Once they were done with their little macho match, they decided to start chasing us. We ran around for hours, chasing each other, swimming, messing around, but mostly just having fun together.

The sun was starting to go down so we went to this deserted place on the beach that is surrounded with little purple flowers and is really peaceful. We made a small fire and sat around talking while making s'mores.

"Today was a great day." I said, putting smiles on everyone's faces.

"Yeah, it was. I'm really glad we got to spend it all together. We've all been so busy lately and I feel like I haven't gotten to see you guys as much." Jake said and we all just nodded.

"I'm so happy that I moved here. You guys are the best friends that I have ever had, and I finally have a brother." Nathan said, pounding fists with Luke. "Not to mention, I've got the best girlfriend I could ask for. I just never thought life could be like this, you know. I never thought that I'd be this happy. I guess I just want to thank you guys for being so great." He finished and I just leaned up and kissed him quickly, yet sweetly.

"Nate, it's no problem. We love having you here. You're a great guy, and I've never seen Haley smile so much in her life." Peyton assured him.

"Yeah, so we should be thanking you." Brooke said.

"Oh, well I am happy to make her smile." Nathan said looking down at me a tucking a strand of hair behind my ear and placing a little purple flower there.

"Aw. You two are adorable." Brooke said. "I know that at this point, I should be sick of the two of you, but I'm not."

"Haha. Thanks Brooke." I replied.

"So, who's up for a movie at my house?" Peyton asked.

We all agreed and went to her house for the perfect finish to the perfect day. Right now, life is good. I hope most of my days are like this.


	10. Chapter 10

**Ok here is the final chapter. I'm sorry this last chapter is so short, but I didn't want to add anything that would take away from the important moments. I always knew how the story would end, I just hope you enjoy it. Thank You for reading.**

"Hi baby." Nathan said, coming up next to me and wrapping his arm around my shoulders. We were standing in the gym after practice with Brooke, Lucas, Jake, and Peyton. We've been together for about two months and while we've gone through minor challenges, we've only gotten stronger.

"Hey. We were waiting for you. What do you want to do tonight?"

"Actually, will you take a walk with me and we can meet up with them later?"

"Yeah, sure. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I just have something I want to do."

"Ok. I guess we'll see you guys later." I said as he grabbed my hand and started to lead me outside.

"Nathan, you are really starting to scare me. What is going on? Where are we going?"

"You'll see. So how was your day?"

"It was okay. It's starting to get a little strange though, but I'll let you know later how that goes."

"Well good, I would love your input on what happens."

We kept walking through town until Nathan randomly stopped. I looked around a few times and realized that we were across from the donut shop, in the exact spot where I crashed into him.

"What are we doing here Nathan?"

"Haley, since the day I met you, I thought you were beautiful. Now that I've gotten to know you, I know that you are so much more than just beautiful. There is an endless list of adjectives that I could use to describe you, but I'll save those for another time. Haley, I know that on that day you fell for me, literally, but what I didn't know is that I also fell for you, and I've continued to fall deeper every day. So, I brought you here to the exact spot where we first met to say one thing. Haley James, I love you."

"I love you too, Nathan Scott." I smiled and leaned forward to kiss him. It started out a simple, sweet kiss but soon escalated. We stood there for a few minutes, making out, in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Why is it that every time I see you two, you are making out?" I heard Whitey say nearby.

"Sorry Whitey." Nathan said, pulling away as both of us started laughing.

"I'm sure you are. Go on with your afternoon." He told us, walking away.

"Come on." I grabbed his shirt and started pulling him across the street.

"Where are we going?"

"I want donuts now."

"Ok, but I have somewhere else I want to go. So hurry up and eat."

"Jeez. You tell me you love me, then you get all bossy."

"Sorry, I just want to get there on time."

"Ok I'll hurry."

Once I finished my donuts he started to lead me away again. We ended up at the beach in the peaceful area filled with the little purple flowers. He immediately picked one and put it behind my ear like he had before. He pulled me over to a bench with the perfect view of the horizon.

"Just in time." He said, as the sun started to set.

We just sat there for a while, listening to the ocean and watching the sun go down. I was leaning against his chest and playing with his fingers while he had one arm around my shoulders. The moment was perfect and I just wanted to stay in it forever.

"What are you thinking?" He asked, watching me as I mindlessly intertwined our fingers.

"I got my wish." I simply replied and smiled at him.


End file.
